After a year away the world’s ‘coolest’ motorbike event is back and promising more crashes, splashes and shots of Russian Vodka than ever…
If you’re looking for a true adventure next year, how about riding 2000km over and around Planet Earth’s deepest lake?
Lake Baikal in Russia is the oldest and deepest lake in the world and with temperatures in the region dipping to a balmy -20C, the lake spends most of the year frozen. With a giant ice lake and after a couple of vodkas, the folks over at The Adventurists decided it was high time that a group of people rode across it on old motorbikes with sidecars attached. Naturally. Is there anything borderline-bonkers these guys can’t think of do with motorcycles?
The sixth Ice Run, taking place in March 2018, has opened its doors for entrants – teams of two comprising one driver and one ‘navigator’ in a side-car, although you can swap over as much as you want. There’s no route set in stone, but you’ll be given a selection of GPS co-ordinates for fuel drops and some particularly hazardous areas to avoid (best not to get those two mixed up) and some expert advice on where the best riding will be found, help you get across and then – on forest trails and rural ice roads – around the lake.
There are a few Russian vodka-fuelled parties under the stars, with Banyas, fires and feasts of local fish, thrown into the mix during the 12-day event, but the most fun comes in the form of dealing with the lake’s 12,000 square miles of ice.
If this sounds like your cup of tea, but you’re a little concerned about the fact you’ve not ridden a bike across a giant frozen lake before, you can be partly reassured by the fact there’s three days of rolling training and mechanical briefing on the lake, so you get to know the basics of how to ride and fix a Ural motorcycle in -20C, how to camp in the cold and how to pull someone out of the ice. If something does go drastically wrong, The Adventurists invisible backup crew are only a call away with a team of bike and adventure experts on hand.
No more excuses? Visit The Adventurists website (theadventurists.com) for more details.
